June 7, 2011 — -- Can't zip your jeans, cinch a belt or pull those boy shorts over your hips anymore? Take heart. It doesn't necessarily mean you're getting fatter.
You can now blame your bones.
Most people don't grow any taller after the age of 20, but a recent study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research found evidence that the pelvis -- the hip bones -- continues to widen in both men and women up to about age 80, long after skeletal growth is supposed to have stopped.
While it's hardly news that people find themselves to be wider at 40 and 60 than they were at 20, the extra inches were assumed to come from an increase in body fat, said Dr. Laurence E. Dahners, a professor of orthopedics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
"You think you're getting fat, but the evidence is your bones are getting wider," Dahners said.
Dahners and his researchers stumbled on the "widening" phenomenon while studying the X-rays of patients in an unrelated bursitis study. "It seemed that the older you got, the wider your pelvis was, which made no sense," Dahners said. "It goes against everything we hear, that young people are bigger and stronger than the older generation."
They decided to investigate further, reviewing the CT scans from 246 randomly selected patients, including about 20 males and 20 females in each 10-year age group from 20-29 and 70-79. They measured the distance between the hip joints, the width of the hip joints, the width of the pelvic inlet (the birth canal opening that sits in the middle of the pelvis) and the height and width of the L4 vertebra, to make sure their patients didn't skew larger and taller to begin with.
"We thought maybe we were having some kind of fluke. Perhaps we just happened to recruit a bunch of old big people and young, small people," Dahners said.
They found that all the widths increased as the patients got older.
The width of the pelvis in the oldest patients was, on average, almost an inch larger than in the youngest patients, which can lead to a 3-inch increase in waist size from age 20 to age 79, and a weight gain of about a pound a year. "Say you wore 30-inch waist pants when you were 20, by the time you were 80, it should be 33-inch pants, even if you didn't gain any fat," Dahners said.
"We found older people really are wider, almost 8 to 9 percent wider," Dahners said. "An almost 10 percent increase in your circumference if you consider yourself to be a cylinder would be enough to explain a big part of a pound a year gain over the age of 20."
The finding can offer comfort -- and insight -- to the weight-afflicted.
"I used to blame the dryer for my tight jeans," said Ruth, 45, who works in advertising. "My friends would say, no, jeans don't shrink that much. It's not the dryer. It must be you. Maybe it is, but now I can say it's my bones."
Paula, 39, a writer, said, "I figured the widening of my hips was water retention, or that I'd put on weight. If it's the bones, now I feel better."
Neither woman wanted her last name used.
And the relief they feel is only natural. "We would like to blame weight gain on big bones, not that we're actually fat," Dahners said.
Can Pelvic Widening Explain Away the Extra Pounds?
Aside from providing a new excuse for a widening girth, what does the finding mean? Even Dahners was hard-pressed to come up with anything important to the practice of treating patients with bone problems. "Does it make us fix broken bones differently now? Does it make us put in our special joints differently?" The answer was a resounding no.
"Basically, I just thought this [widening] was interesting to know, but I really don't know where it's going," said Dr. Elton Strauss, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and geriatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "I think this is something that maybe is going to come to light 15 years from now, as they get autopsy specimens or other studies that look inside the bone to give some kind of idea of what the issues are. They really can't come up with a reason as to why the pelvis widens."
Dr. Clifford B. Jones, a clinical professor of orthopedics at Michigan State University, said the widening could come from muscle stress. "You've got muscle attachments to the pelvis, and they all want to pull. That could relatively widen your pelvis due to the fact that your pelvis brim area is going to get wider and wider from these muscles pulling off and stressing." Or maybe it's estrogen. "Men have female hormones, too, to a lesser degree, and that could be causing it," said Jones. "Or it can just be more maturation that you have over the years."
Despite the ambiguity about its cause and implications, a spreading pelvis does not offer a Get Out of Jail Free pass for packing on pounds. "We can say their bones are getting wider, and that's the reason they look wider," Dahners said. "We can't say you're not getting fat, because you might be getting fat, too."
As an explanation for the obesity epidemic, "this [widening] phenomenon explains exactly none of it," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "Whatever accounts for these skeletal changes, there is certainly no reason to think it … has occurred only in the last few decades. Presumably, skeletons have always behaved this way, yet epidemic obesity, at ever younger ages, is a new phenomenon. An old cause cannot be used to explain a new effect."
And that's little consolation for most of us.
FAQs
With the onset of puberty, the male pelvis remains on the same developmental trajectory, while the female pelvis develops in an entirely new direction, becoming wider and reaching its full width around the age of 25-30 years. From the age of 40 onward, the female pelvis then begins to narrow again.
Why do female hips widen? ›
Widening of the hip bones occurs as part of the female pubertal process, and sex hormones in females (estrogens) cause a widening of the pelvis as a part of sexual differentiation. Hence females generally have wider hips, permitting childbirth.
Do your hips get wider when you gain weight? ›
Extra fat also tends to accumulate around the hips and buttocks. This tends to be more pronounced in women than in men given the gendered differences in fat accumulation and distribution. Widening of the hips and buttocks can lead to a distinct pear shape.
Did bones gain weight in season 12? ›
Temperance "Bones" Brennan Booth, Ph. D. was played by Emily Deschanel, who suddenly gained fat in season 12. Fans were taken by surprise in the final season seeing their favorite forensic anthropologist character gain some baby weight.
Do your hips grow wider after 60? ›
You can now blame your bones. Most people don't grow any taller after the age of 20, but a recent study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research found evidence that the pelvis -- the hip bones -- continues to widen in both men and women up to about age 80, long after skeletal growth is supposed to have stopped.
Do women's waists get bigger with age? ›
A combination of things happens as we age. We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
Why do women's hips get bigger after marriage? ›
But the main reason for girls' hips to grow after marriage is their physical relationship. When all girls have sexual relations with their husbands after marriage, it causes hormonal changes in their body. It also affects other organs like their waist and hips. After marriage, women's hips gradually begin to grow.
Why do females have bigger thighs? ›
Hormones drive the deposition of fat around the pelvis, buttocks, and thighs of women and the bellies of men. For women, this so-called sex-specific fat appears to be physiologically advantageous, at least during pregnancies.
What body type gains weight all over? ›
People with a mesomorph-type body gain muscle and weight easily. Typically, they are able to lose weight quickly, but they can also find it easy to gain fat. Therefore, mesomorphs may need to watch their calorie intake or stay active to avoid gaining weight.
Where do you lose weight first? ›
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
Weight loss or weight gain
A woman's weight can have a big influence on the shape and size of their breasts. Weight affects the amount of fatty tissue within the breasts. Gaining weight increases the fatty tissue within the breast and results in breasts enlargement.
Does Bones get pregnant in Bones? ›
In the second to last episode of season 6 Booth and Brennan have sex, consummating their relationship, and it is revealed in the last few moments of the season finale that as a result, Brennan has become pregnant, with Booth the father.
Did the actress lose weight for to the bone? ›
How much weight did you have to lose for the role? “They never gave me a number or a goal weight, but I ended up losing around 20lbs. My nutritionist put me on lots of supplements and I was eating every meal, just specific things.
Was Bones pregnant in Bones? ›
Accustomed to playing pregnant while actually pregnant, Monday's episode required Deschanel to put on a fake belly for the first time. "It's very sweaty in there, so thank god it was just for one episode and we could move on," Deschanel tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Do hips get tighter with age? ›
YES! As we get older, we may get less active and find ourselves sitting more causing more hip stiffness. That doesn't mean we have to stop doing things we enjoy or can't improve the quality of our lives. We tend to lose flexibility and strength because we have stopped needing those things in a sedentary lifestyle.
Why do women's bodies get wider as they age? ›
Tissue loss reduces the amount of water in your body. The amount of body fat goes up steadily after age 30. Older people may have almost one third more fat compared to when they were younger. Fat tissue builds up toward the center of the body, including around the internal organs.
Why do women's hips get wider with age? ›
The authors point to estrogen levels, which rise during puberty and decline later in life, as the likely cause of the widening and subsequent narrowing in the female pelvis, in particular because estrogen is known to impact bone growth and development.
Why do older women's stomachs stick out? ›
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
Can a 70 year old woman get in shape? ›
No matter what your age, you can improve your fitness.
If it's been a long time since you've exercised and you're feeling less than fit, you might think that it's too late to make a change. But you're wrong. You can improve your fitness at any age.
What causes big stomach in females? ›
Causes include poor diet, lack of exercise, and short or low-quality sleep. A healthy diet and active lifestyle can help people lose excess belly fat and lower the risk of problems associated with it.
Breasts grow in response to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. As you enter puberty, levels of these hormones increase. Your breasts begin to grow under the stimulation of these hormones. Hormone levels also change during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause.
Why do girls body change after marriage? ›
Engaging in physical intimacy leads to some changes in your hormones, which can affect your body. Your period cycle will not be affected, however, unless you become pregnant. You may experience a slight delay for a month or two, which is also completely normal, brought on by the stress of your first time.
Why do men's stomachs get big after marriage? ›
Why do Guys gain weight in a relationship? After marriage, people get a sense of security and they start living happily with their life partners. This reason is considered to be more predominant behind weight gain in people. Researches show that when compared to people in relationships, single people eat less.
What does it look like when your hip is out of alignment? ›
These result in: Uneven shoulders, with the shoulder above the lower hip appearing higher. Shoulder blades may stick out on the side with the lower hip. Uneven leg length, with the leg on the higher hip appearing shorter.
Why do both my hips pop when I walk? ›
Snapping hip is most often the result of tightness in the muscles and tendons surrounding the hip. People who are involved in sports and activities that require repeated bending at the hip are more likely to experience snapping hip.
What does swaying your hips do? ›
Moving. Swaying the hips from side to side is a common dance move and can indicate the person would like to dance. It also draws attention to that part of the body and hence can be a flirtatious action. Moving the hips back and forth is a simulation of sexual intercourse and can be highly arousing.
Why do women's thighs get bigger with age? ›
The ratio of body fat to muscle increases, as muscle mass decreases. Due to the aging factor, weight is being added to our thighs and buttocks.
What does it mean when a woman has thick thighs? ›
The main culprit behind weight gain in your thighs is estrogen. This hormone drives the increase in fat cells in females, causing deposits to form most commonly around the buttocks and thighs.
Are thick thighs a good thing? ›
Researchers tracked the volunteers for an average of 12.5 years. They found that people with big thighs had a lower risk of heart disease and premature death than those with thin thighs.
Which body type has the hardest time losing weight? ›
Endomorphs body type
Endomorphs typically have higher levels of body fat and have a difficult time losing weight and they also have a wider physique when compared to ectomorphs and mesomorphs.
Physical Characteristics of Ectomorphs:
Ectomorphs have a difficult time putting on muscle mass because their metabolism has a tendency to run higher than other body types. In the fitness terms, they are often called “hard gainers” for this very reason.
What body shape has a big belly? ›
Apple Shape
Also called a “beer belly,” it means you have more fat stored around your stomach, while your lower body stays thin.
What does fat in urine look like? ›
In addition to an oily appearance, your urine might also have a milky white color. This is due to the presence of fat and protein in lymph fluid. Other symptoms of chyluria include: blood in your urine.
Where is the hardest place to lose fat? ›
As against areas such as legs, face and arms, our stomach and abdominal regions possess beta cells that makes it difficult to reduce the fats easily and lose weight in these areas. However, as per research, belly fat is the most difficult to lose as the fat there is so much harder to break down.
Who sees weight loss first? ›
Guzman said weight loss was typically noticed in our faces first. According to a Canadian study on the social perception of weight loss, "women and men of average height need to lose or gain approximately 10 pounds for anyone to notice the difference in a face," he said.
Can sagging breast be firm again? ›
Can Sagging Breasts Be Firm Again? Sagging breast tissue cannot regain its youthful firmness without plastic surgery. Unfortunately, measures such as exercising your chest muscles, eating healthy, and applying topical creams are not enough to correct pronounced sagging and drooping.
Will my breasts get smaller if I lose 20 pounds? ›
But it varies. For some women, gaining or losing 20 pounds will make them go up or down a cup size; for others, it's more like 50 pounds.
What causes saggy breasts? ›
The loss of skin elasticity due to aging is the most common cause of saggy breasts. Another factor is smoking, which accelerates aging and thus contributes to sagging breasts, sometimes even earlier in life. Multiple pregnancies are another cause, though breastfeeding is not.
Does Bones have a third baby? ›
Henry "Hank" Booth ll is the second child of Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth, but is the third child of Booth. He has an older sister, Christine, and an older half-brother, Parker.
Is Bones Autistic? ›
In an interview, Hart Hansen, the creator of the show, admitted that he based Bones on a friend with Asperger's syndrome (which is now diagnosed as ASD).
Carla Gallo's pregnancy was written into the script for her character, Daisy Wick. Gallo gave birth to a daughter in 2014.
How did Megan lose her baby in to the bone? ›
The character Luke, after eight months of inpatient treatment for anorexia in the not-subtly named clinic Threshold, still calls the dining room "the torture chamber." Another character, Megan, who's spent years in and out of treatment, suffers a miscarriage because her malnourished body cannot sustain a new life.
How did Adele lose weight? ›
Spoiler: There was no magic diet fad involved. She lost weight over the course of two years by consistently lifting weights and doing circuit training. “My body has been objectified my entire career,” she said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
How much does lizzo weigh? ›
Lizzo's height is reported to be around 5 feet 10 inches (178 cm), and her weight is estimated to be between 200 and 250 pounds (91-113 kg).
Why did Sweets leave Bones? ›
Sweets was ultimately killed in the season 10 premiere; Bones executive producer Stephen Nathan said Sweets was killed because Daley wanted time off to direct a movie, and he was concerned that Daley's absence would be too long, especially if the directing job led to other jobs.
How many babies do Angela and Hodgins have? ›
| Angela Montenegro |
|---|
| Family | Billy Gibbons (father) |
| Spouse | Grayson Barasa ( m. 2003; div. 2008) Jack Hodgins ( m. 2010) |
| Children | Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins (son, with Jack; born 2011) Unnamed child (unborn, with Jack) |
| Relatives | Christine Angela Booth (goddaughter) Hank Booth II (godson) |
11 more rowsThe Salt in the Wounds.
What age do you start getting curves? ›
Puberty usually starts when you're between 9 and 13 years old. But it can start earlier or later. Thanks to hormones like estrogen, you'll notice changes like your breasts starting to grow and new curves forming on your body. You might notice that you start to get taller, and eventually you'll get your period.
Can your hips widen at 21? ›
Summary: A new study has found evidence that, even though you're not getting taller anymore, the pelvis ("hipbones") does continue to widen as people advance in age from 20 years to 79 years. By the age of 20, most people have reached skeletal maturity and do not grow any taller.
Do women's hips widen after childbirth? ›
By relaxing the pelvic joints and ligaments, they loosen and expand so baby can pass through birth canal. The pelvic area most affected by Relaxin is the Symphysis Pubis and Sacroiliac Joints. Due to this natural occurrence some women do experience wider hips after pregnancy.
That translates to about a three-inch increase in waist size between someone age 20 and someone age 79. The new study was published May 25 in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Pass it on: People's hips get wider as they get older not just because of fat, but because their pelvic bones actually grow wider.
What age does it get harder to stay in shape? ›
As we reach our 30's, our bodies usually need less energy, meaning we may not be able to eat the way we did in our 20's. Then, as you move past 40 and head to middle age, changes in muscle, hormones and metabolism all make it harder to stay trim.
At what age do men stop growing? ›
Although some men may continue to grow in their 20s, most men's growth plates are closed by 21 years. Hence, it is unlikely for men to grow after 21 years, with some exceptions. In a healthy growth pattern, your bone increases in length due to the growth plates in the bone called epiphyses.
At what age are you in the best shape? ›
Your muscles are their strongest at age 25. At 25, your physical strength is at its peak, and stays this way for the following 10 to 15 years. This trait is among the ones you can improve easiest, with the help of the right workout. Your desire to settle down is highest at age 26.
Do hip dips go away with age? ›
"There's nothing you can do to get rid of hip dips. No matter how much muscle you build, your hip dips will always be there."
Are big hips normal? ›
Embracing the body you have and understanding that wide hips are normal and healthy is the first step on your journey. And while the overall structure and shape of your hips can't be changed, if you would like to accentuate your curves and tone the muscles around your hips, there are healthy and safe ways to do so.
Will I be loose after having a baby? ›
vagin*l delivery can result in persistent feelings of vagin*l laxity. This laxity can reduce vagin*l sensation during intercourse and diminish sexual satisfaction of both partners, which can in turn lead to decreased sexual self-esteem and a drop in sexual intimacy.
Do wide hips mean easy childbirth? ›
Having larger, wider hips isn't always an indicator of whether you'll have an easy birth experience. Childbirth is a complex experience no matter the size or shape of your pelvis. Until you're at the point where you're ready to deliver, there's no way to know how easy (or how difficult) your birth will be.
Does your body change permanently after having a baby? ›
It's safe to say growing and birthing a baby does “some things” to the body. And while many of those changes are temporary, like strange skin conditions experienced during pregnancy, some may be more permanent, like altered DNA.
Why do women's hips get wider after marriage? ›
But the main reason for girls' hips to grow after marriage is their physical relationship. When all girls have sexual relations with their husbands after marriage, it causes hormonal changes in their body. It also affects other organs like their waist and hips. After marriage, women's hips gradually begin to grow.
Estrogen helps make women curvier than men by making their pelvis and hips wider, and their breast grow. Estrogen is part of your menstrual cycle, helps you get pregnant, and plays a role in helping you develop bones and grow hair. It also helps regulate your moods and impacts your brain development and structure.
What makes hips wider? ›
If you want to make your hips wider, you need to focus on your gluteal muscles as well as your quads (and hamstrings). These are the muscles that surround your hips and will make your hips wider hips. Gluteal Muscles: Gluteus Maximus.
